Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

L-dopa medication could be helpful in treatment of phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder

Date:

July 9, 2014

Source:

Universität Mainz

Summary:

A drug used to treat Parkinson's disease could also help people with phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scientists report. They are currently exploring the effects of psychotherapy to extinguish fears in combination with L-dopa. This drug does not only help movement disorders, but might also be used to override negative memories.

Share This

A drug used to treat Parkinson's disease could also help people with phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientists of the Translational Neurosciences (FTN) Research Center at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are currently exploring the effects of psychotherapy to extinguish fears in combination with L-dopa. This drug does not only help movement disorders, but might also be used to override negative memories.

Related Articles

Professor Raffael Kalisch, head of the Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the JGU Translational Neurosciences Research Center, and his collaborators at the University of Innsbruck are conducting research in mice and in humans into the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of anxiety and fear. "Fear reactions are essential to health and survival, but the memories of angst-inducing situations may cause long-term anxiety or phobias," explained Kalisch. In psychotherapy, the 'fear extinction' method is used in exposing people to a threat but without the adverse consequences. Latest research has proven that extinguishing fear also predicts mental health after trauma, suggesting extinction may be an important resilience mechanism.

Fear extinction involves a person being presented with a neutral stimulus, such as a circle on a screen, together with a painful sensation. Soon the person predicts pain in response to the circle on the screen and fear becomes conditioned. Then the person is shown the circle again, but this time without the painful stimulus, so that the person can disassociate the two factors. A person who is afraid of spiders, for example, will in psychotherapy be confronted with spiders in a way that reassures them that the spider is harmless.

In another research program, Belgian scientists tested the ability to extinguish fear in soldiers later deployed to a war zone and found differences in the soldiers' resilience to traumatic memories. Some experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms following their deployment, whereas those who were able to extinguish fear in the laboratory maintained a good state of mental health. "If you are mentally flexible enough to change the associations that your mind has created, you might be better able to avoid lasting damage," explained Kalisch. In cooperation with other scientists, Kalisch has found first evidence that this process of changing negative associations might involve the brain's systems for reward and pleasure and depend on release of the neurotransmitter dopamine that helps control them.

However, even after successful extinction, old fear associations can return under other stressful circumstances. This might involve the development of PTSD or a relapse after successful psychotherapy. Kalisch has found that L-dopa, a drug to treat Parkinson's disease, can prevent this effect and could therefore possibly be used to prevent relapse in treated PTSD or phobia patients. L-dopa is taken up by the brain and transformed into dopamine that not only controls the brain's reward and pleasure centers and helps regulate movement, but also affects memory formation. The person receiving L-dopa after extinction will thus create a stronger secondary positive memory of the extinction experience and will thus be able to more easily replace the negative memory. This raises new questions about the role of primary fear memories and secondary prevention by L-dopa. "We would like to be able to enhance the long-term effects of psychotherapy by combining it with L-dopa," said Professor Raffael Kalisch. To this end, he is about to start a clinical study of people with a spider phobia to determine the effects of L-dopa on therapy outcome. "Manipulating the dopamine system in the brain is a promising avenue to boost primary and secondary preventive strategies based on the extinction procedure," he continued.

Featured Research

Mar. 31, 2015 — During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. But scientists have known little about the details of how this ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research. This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Women who are abused by their partner or ex-partner are much less likely to use contraception; this exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases and leads to more frequent unintended pregnancies and ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Video games not only sharpen the visual processing skills of frequent players, they might also improve the brain's ability to learn those skills, according to a new study. Gamers showed faster ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Children who play video games for more than three hours a day are more likely to be hyperactive, get involved in fights and not be interested in school, says a new study. It examined the effects of ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Differences in the way children and adults perceive the world extend to their sense of safety in their social and physical environments and this in turn can impact their health, say researchers. ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Searching the Internet for information may make people feel smarter than they actually are, according to new research. In a series of experiments, participants who searched for information on the ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — In addition to their physical injuries, women who are victims of domestic violence are also at a greater risk of mental health problems such as depression and psychotic symptoms. "We studied the ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A unique pattern of immune molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome have been discovered, providing insights into the basis for cognitive ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Children who get a taste of their parents' wine now and then may be more likely than their peers to start drinking by high school, according to a new report. The findings are based on 561 Rhode ... full story

Featured Videos

AAA: Distracted Driving a Serious Teen Problem

AP (Mar. 25, 2015) — While distracted driving is not a new problem for teens, new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says it&apos;s much more serious than previously thought. (March 25)
Video provided by AP

Many Don't Know They Have Alzheimer's, But Their Doctors Do

Newsy (Mar. 24, 2015) — According to a new study by the Alzheimer&apos;s Association, more than half of those who have the degenerative brain disease aren&apos;t told by their doctors.
Video provided by Newsy

A Quick 45-Minute Nap Can Improve Your Memory

Newsy (Mar. 23, 2015) — Researchers found those who napped for 45 minutes to an hour before being tested on information recalled it five times better than those who didn&apos;t.
Video provided by Newsy

Related Stories

Sep. 11, 2014 — Older adults who experience a serious fall may develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the days following the event, finds a study. Women, people who were unemployed or who had ... full story

Jan. 16, 2014 — Memories of traumatic events often last a lifetime because they are so difficult to treat through behavioral approaches. A preclinical study reveals that drugs known as histone deacetylase inhibitors ... full story

Oct. 25, 2012 — One in three former political prisoners of the German Democratic Republic still suffers from sleeping disorders, nightmares and irrational fear. Researchers reveal these post-traumatic stress ... full story

Jan. 12, 2011 — Living a traumatic experience favors the persistence of fear associated with an aversive stimulus, known as fear conditioning. Scientists in the US and Spain have now found that such an effect, in ... full story

Dec. 21, 2010 — Stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories, a team of neuroscientists has found in a study of laboratory rats. Their results may bolster our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.